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Archive for Piano

Piano Improvisation: Do You Know How To Improvise?

by Fat Chords
March 9th, 2011

Piano Improvisation: Do You Know How To Improvise?

Can you talk to people without first memorizing what to say? Probably you can. Can you create melodies and nice licks to chords on the spot. Many pianists find this harder. Let’s try out a few ways to improve your improvisations!


Put something in to get something out


Piano improvisation is a form of composing. In other words you are creating music.


In order to improvise in an intelligent manner and not only play random notes you have to listen to improvised music and practise on your piano in a manner that will help you create music when you improvise.


There are many ways to practise improvisation but let’s start with playing a few licks over the II-V-I progression in the key of C.


In this exercise you will improvise melodic patterns with your right hand and play chords with you left.


The note C4 is the middle C on the piano and D4 is the D to the right of this C. B3 is the B note to the left of C4.


We will start with the Dm chord in the left hand. Dm is the II chord in C. We will play it in its basic form:


Dm: D3 F3 A3


With the right hand it’s time to play patterns that fit this chord. For example:


F4 A4 C5 E5 D5 C5 A4 F4


We will now play the V chord which will come next in the II-V-I progression. In C-major this will be G. It can be played as follows:


G: B2 D3 G3


An continuation of the melodic flow in Dm could be:


E4 F4 A4 C5


We will now end on the I chord which will be C in the key of C-major. In it’s basic form it looks like this:


C: C3 E3 G3


We will end the melody by playing the note B4. This makes the whole ending to a Cmaj7 chords. Sounds nice, doesn’t it!


We will continue this piano improvisation lesson by trying out a few more possibilities with the same piano chord progression for your right hand improvisations:


Piano progression 1


Dm: E5 C5 A4 F4


G: D#5 B4 G#4 F4


C: D5


Piano progression 2


Dm: F4 A4 C5 E5


G: F4 G#4 B4 E5


C: D5


Piano progression unlimited


Of course there are unlimited possibilities so now it is time to jump into the unknown by experimenting and inventing melodies with your right hand as you play the progressions in the left hand.


What do you learn by practicing piano progressions?


You learn patterns that you can use in different contexts as you improvise. You learn different chords that can be implemented in your piano playing.


Most importantly, you learn to improvise. Improvisation is a bit of memorized fragments and a lot of just jumping into the unknown and do something about it.


The end result is hopefully a bit of music to the benefit of the people in the world.

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free piano sheet music and learn to play resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com


Article from articlesbase.com

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Piano Lesson: How To Improvise The Classical Piano Way

by Fat Chords
March 5th, 2011

Piano Lesson: How To Improvise The Classical Piano Way

Is it possible to improvise on the piano in a classical manner? This piano lesson will help you find out how to cultivate this art and the benefits you reap as a pianist!

Jazz piano improvising is an established art nowadays and much have been written on how to develop improvisational skills in this area.

What about classical piano improvisation?

Many of the methods used for learning jazz piano improvisation can be applied in classical piano improvisation as well.

Many composers like Johann Sebastian Bach, W.A. Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn, Frédéric Chopin and others were actually more famous for their improvisational skills during their lifetime.

Personally I have tried to develop this skill and I find it very enjoyable to improvise with classical piano pieces as a basis for creative trips.

I love to improvise in the style of classical composers trying to find myself somewhere among the notes. These special moments are a form of meditation. They clear my mind and also helps me as a composer to stimulate my creative abilities.

The most important reason for developing this skill is that it is fun and very enjoyable. If you learn classical piano improvisation you will benefit from it in many other ways too:

1. It will be easier for you to memorize classical piano sheet music as you will become more aware of what happens when you press down the piano keys.

2. You will find it easier to compose your own piano pieces in a classical piano style.

3. You can make up your own technical exercises on your piano on the go.

4. You will understand your piano better.

There are many ways to develop your skill in classical piano improvisation. Let’s see!

1. As soon as you have learned a piano scale try to use it by creating improvised melodies while playing chords or patterns with the other hand.

2. When you learn new chords try to create patterns to play with your left hand as you play improvised melodies with your right hand. A common easy left hand pattern is with the chord C:

C G E G C G E G

3. As you learn to play new classical piano compositions try to memorize beautiful or exciting passages in these compositions and play around with them and try to modify them and improvise over them.

4. Try to create classical melodies at the piano without stopping. In order to learn to improvise classical music you have to practice just that – To improvise classical piano music.

The most basic requisite in order to develop the skill of classical piano improvisation is that you want to learn this art and with this desire you will find ways to practice this art in all your piano playing.

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free sheet music and learn to play piano resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com


Article from articlesbase.com

If you’re left-handed, this next piano lesson should be a breeze! Now that we’ve played our first five piano notes using our right hand, it’s time to learn the NEXT five notes you should learn on the piano using your left hand. Still nothing too fancy at this point, although I did feel a slight urge to begin the lesson with one of my favorite Chopin tunes. As always, you can check out the online version of my free piano lessons at: www.getpianolessons.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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Piano lesson: Learn To Play Mary Had A Little Lamb Without Reading Sheet Music

by Fat Chords
March 3rd, 2011

Piano lesson: Learn To Play Mary Had A Little Lamb Without Reading Sheet Music

In this piano lesson you will learn to play Mary Had A Little Lamb without the use of sheet music. We will be a little bit professional and use both hands!

As you probably know Mary Had A Little Lamb is a popular nursery rhyme. Here is the first verse:

Mary had a little lamb
little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
its fleece was white as snow

In When testing his invention of the phonograph in 1877 Thomas Edison used this poem and it became the first audio recording to be successfully made and played back.

We will not use sheet music in this piano lesson. Instead we will use a form of piano tablature or shorter piano tab.

Tablature is a form of musical notation, often with numbers and letters, which tells the player where to place his fingers on a particular instrument rather than which pitches to play.

First you’ll have to locate the note C on the piano. On a piano C is the first white key that is to the left of two black keys.

The C we are interested in most is the C on the middle of the piano. This C is called middle C because on the piano keyboard it is right in the middle, near the keyhole.

In our piano tab we will give this C note a number: 1

The white key to the right of C we call 2 and so on. Let’s play some notes:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

When you have played these seven notes you will come to the next C on the piano.

Let’s try to play a bit of Mary Had A Little Lamb:

Mary had a little lamb

3 2 1 2 3 3 3

You can use the index finger on your right hand to play this melody or be a little bit more professional and use your thumb for all number 1, your index finger for number 2 and your middle finger for number 3.

Let’s continue this piano lesson with the next line:

little lamb, little lamb

2 2 2 3 5 5

Use the little finger for number 5 if you want. The next part is the same as the first piano tab:

Mary had a little lamb

3 2 1 2 3 3 3

Now we are about to finish this song:

its fleece was white as snow

3 2 2 3 2 1

How can you use your left hand? Well, you can make this piece a little bit more difficult and also more rewarding to play by using your left hand for bass notes.

The notes from C to the next C is called an octave. You also have these notes to the left of the middle C. We can call these notes the left octave.

If you use the notes 1-7 in the left octave to play bass notes with your left hand we can notate this in the following way:

3/1 2 1 2 3/1 3 3

3/1 means that as you play the first 3 you also play number 1 in the left octave with your left hand at the same time.

The rest of Mary Had A Little Lamb with bass notes included looks like this:

2/5 2 2 3/1 5 5

3/1 2 1 2 3/1 3 3

3 2/5 2 3 2 1/1

I suggest that you play you left hand 1 with your little finger and number 5 with your thumb. This is the whole song and your piano lesson is over!

The best way to practice is probably to take one line at a time and learn it by heart. When you know the song by heart you can play it anytime and anywhere!

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free sheet music and learn to play piano resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com


Article from articlesbase.com

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Acoustic Piano or Digital Piano?

by Fat Chords
February 28th, 2011

Acoustic Piano or Digital Piano?

The invention of piano has already come a long way since around 500 years in the past. A great number of various piano styles have emerged out of imitating and enhancing the original piano version many times. Digital pianos are made with the latest technology and it is one of the most famous alternatives for piano. The question you’ll ask to yourself is which one suits you? Your piano playing styles and budget are the main criteria for searching a piano. For both side on the other hand the advantages and disadvantages.

Acoustic Piano

A complex built – That best describes the acoustic piano. The hammers are made to hit the string inside the piano when the keys are pressed on the outside. It then creates a vibration that is augmented by the coundboard of the piano. A quality, full and rich piano sound is created that is always being appreciated at recitals and grand performances. The only disadvantage it has is that it entails a lot of money, space and maintenance.

When looking for an Acoustic Piano, here are the things to take note:

• The acoustic piano requires habitual tuning most especially when the piano is moved to another place or when the climate changes.

• The sound created by the acoustic piano is very rich and full that nothing can match up to with it.

• Depending on the temperament of the pianist, it allows the creation of either loud or soft sound. Whatever the way the pianist wants to play, acoustic pianos can go along very well.

• A big space of a room is required when you decide to buy an acoustic piano. They weigh at the range of 450 – 1000 lbs.

• Usually, acoustic pianos that can be availed at a low price is not worth to buy since they have a lot of defects. Great acoustic pianos are always highly priced.

Digital Piano

A good copy of an acoustic piano is the digital piano. Recorded notes from the real pianos are being used by digital pianos to create sound instead of having the built in strings and mechanisms within. Individuals who play in the band can find digital pianos very handy for they can be easily carried anywhere though they have some flaws.

When looking for a digital piano, here are some things to take note:

• Digital pianos come at an economical price. They are more affordable than acoustic pianos.

• The real version of the piano piece can never be acquired since the digital keys are not very sensitive.

• Students who only have digital pianos are not accommodated by some piano teachers.

• Digital pianos come along with their own carry bags and they are portable and quite light to carry around.

• A broad range of features and styles are offered by a good quality digital piano. Other sounds of instruments like the drums are included in these features.

• You don’t need to get digital pianos tuned and they are good to use in areas that have humid climates and have drastic change in temperature.

The issues between both instruments have long existed since the creation of digital pianos. But it is still up to you, both instruments have their own strong points and it greatly depends on how you want to use it.

Are you interested in taking piano lessons online? Visit learnpianoreview.com and get to know different piano courses to suit your needs. Try reading the review on Rocket Piano. Rocketpiano will make piano playing fun and exciting!


Article from articlesbase.com

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Piano Lesson: Learn To Play Amazing Grace

by Fat Chords
February 27th, 2011

Piano Lesson: Learn To Play Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace for piano is a popular song on the internet. In this piano lesson we will learn to play this song with melody and chords without the use of sheet music. We will start by finding the note C.


The note C on your piano is found on many places on the piano keyboard. C is always to the left of two black keys on the keyboard. Let’s find the middle C on the piano.


The middle C is often called C4 as it is in the fourth octave of an ordinary upright piano or grand piano. It is sometimes called the keyhole C as it is at the same horizontal position as the keyhole on some pianos.


In this piano lesson we will call it C4 and the C to the left of this note we will call C3 and so on. We will now continue this piano lesson by learning the song Amazing Grace. Let’s take a look at the lyrics to the first verse:


Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now am found

Was blind, but now I see


We will play this song in the key of F-major. You don’t need to know exactly what this mean but it still is in F-major anyway.


We will start with the first line:


Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound


Here is the notes to play to this line:


C4 F4 A4 F4 A4 G4 F4 D4 C4


In this piano lesson we will use a type of piano tab that doesn’t indicate the length of the individual notes. You will probably figure out this by yourself as you know the melody!


I feel confident that you are able to do this!


Let’s continue with the next line:


That saved a wretch like me


C4 F4 A4 F4 A4 G4 A4 C5


We will now take a break in this piano lesson and amuse ourselves with three piano chords that you can play with your left hand as you play the melody with your right hand.


The first piano chord is called F-major or just F and it is played with these notes in this song:


F: C3 F3 A3


The next chord is Bb-major. It is played with these notes:


Bb: D3 F3 Bb3


What is the note Bb3?


Well, the ordinary note B3 is immediately to the left of the note C4. Bb3 is the black key immediately to the left of the note B3. Okey?


The third and last chord we will use in this piano lesson is the chord C7. It is played in the following way:


C7: C3 E3 Bb3


If you want to use these chords in the song I recommend that you learn them by heart first. Now we will continue with the piano lesson.


I once was lost, but now am found


A4 C5 A4 F4 A4 G4 F4 D4 C4


We finish this part of the piano lesson by playing the last line of lyrics.


Was blind, but now I see


C4 F4 A4 F4 A4 G4 F4


Our piano lesson on Amazing Grace is completed as far as the piano melody is concerned but if you want to use your left hand to play the chords as you play the right hand melody you’ll find the bonus text here:


I will notate the melody as I did before but at certain places among the notes I will place the piano chords you already have learned after a slash.


When you see a note with a slash and a piano chord after it you are supposed to play the note and the chord at the same time.


Here is the Amazing Grace melody with piano chords:


C4 F4/F A4 F4 A4 G4 F4/Bb D4 C4/F


C4 F4/F A4 F4 A4 G4 A4 C5/C7


A4 C5/F A4 F4 A4 G4 F4/Bb D4 C4/F


C4 F4/F A4 F4 A4/C7 G4 F4/F


That’s it! I recommend learning the Amazing Grace melody with or without chords by heart. You will then have access to it whenever you will find a piano or keyboard to play.

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free piano sheet music and learn to play piano resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com


Article from articlesbase.com

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